Teach Kids with Chickens

Whether they’re in the classroom, on a farm or in your own backyard, chickens are ready to teach your kids about a lot more than the three Rs.

Courtesy Jupiterimages/Pixland/ThinkstockChickens can be used to teach children of all ages on a variety of subjects.

Chickens are personable, make good pets and provide fresh eggs. Their fine qualities and warm relationship with humans make them excellent educational vehicles that children can easily relate to and learn from. There’s nothing like a live bird to capture kids’ attention in the classroom.

Beyond philosophic debates such as whether the chicken or the egg came first, students can learn math, science, history, English and more through the influence of chickens. They can also learn about where their food comes from as well as life lessons in caring for other living creatures.

Chickens have been recognized as models of courage, steadfastness, resourcefulness and love. They are excellent teachers themselves and are willing partners with human teachers to inspire students to achievement and maturity.

Click below to find out ways you can incorporate the chicken in to student lessons for a variety of subjects and age groups:

About the Author: Christine Heinrichs has written two books on raising traditional-breed poultry in flocks, How to Raise Chickens (Voyageur Press, 2007) and How to Raise Poultry (Voyageur Press, 2009). She maintains the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities’ collection of antique poultry books and magazines. She lives on California’s Central Coast with a White Dorking hen and a Buttercup.

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2011 issue of Hobby Farm Home.